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"U" says Rochester plans depend on a lot more state money
January 18, 2005

Gov. Pawlenty proposes a full-fledged university campus in Rochester. University officials are cautious about the plan, because they say they don't have the money for such a big project. (MPR Photo/Michael Khoo)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave some juice to a decades-old wish to create an undergraduate university in Rochester during his State of the State speech Tuesday. The southeastern Minnesota city needs a stronger higher education presence to tie into its fast-growing local economy, Pawlenty said. University of Minnesota officials say they don't have the money to embark on such a project.

Rochester, Minn. — (AP) - Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave some juice to a decades-old wish to create an undergraduate university in Rochester during his State of the State speech Tuesday.

The southeastern Minnesota city needs a stronger higher education presence to tie into its fast-growing local economy, anchored by the Mayo Clinic and other employers, Pawlenty said.

The Republican governor steered clear of endorsing a campus linked with the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system or an independent institution. His two-year budget will earmark $3 million in planning funds for local leaders to make that decision.

University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks said his institution doesn't have the money to open a full-fledged Rochester campus, although it already offers professional graduate programs there

"We don't have the development of a new campus in Rochester under consideration," he said. "The financial resources to do anything in Rochester aren't available at this time."

The university will work with state and local leaders, but would need more state funding to expand, Bruininks added.

Qualified support came from the head of the Senate committee that oversees higher education funding.

"It's a lot of money to do that, especially given the cuts that we did two years ago, but there probably will be a little bit of money for planning," said Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul. "It's really exciting to see how hungry they are for higher education."

Undergraduate classes in nursing and other subjects are now available in Rochester through Winona State University. Pawlenty said his proposal wouldn't affect Rochester Community and Technical College.

A University of Minnesota campus in Rochester would fit with another of Pawlenty's pet projects: The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics. The governor said he won't sign a bonding bill this year unless it includes money to expand facilities for the partnership between the university and the Mayo Clinic.

Pawlenty also backs $15 million in state funding for the project this budget cycle and announced that health insurer Medica's charitable foundation will contribute $5 million.

The clinic and the university are seeking to develop more effective medical tests, treatments and preventive measures using genetic technology.

One of the first funded projects aims to pinpoint early genetic markers of Alzheimer's disease, said Dr. Hugh Smith, chairman of Mayo Clinic's Board of Governors.

Mayo and the university's collaboration is "an awesome force in the world's medical research marketplace, and it will bring great benefit to Minnesota," Pawlenty said.

Bruininks cautioned that the state won't become a bioscience power without sustained funding from the state over the long term.

"The initial work in the first two years has gone very, very well," he said. "My sense of whether this initiative will succeed long-term will depend on the ability of the state to stay the course."

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)